Monday, March 28, 2011

Am I missing it?

It seems in Christianity that there are two groups, so to speak, with regard to the word of God and prayer. We have one group who is all about
the word, theology, and reading good books. Then we have another group who
prays, but who care nothing about truth, doctrine, or theology. I don’t think
any Christian would deny that those two spiritual disciplines are extremely
important. Nobody can expect to be a fruitful Christian without daily being
nourished in the word of God and prayer. For myself, I fall into the doctrine
extreme. So often I spend all of my time reading, but not much praying. This is
not good. Even though reading Bible, studying Bible, and reading good books are
all good if I neglect prayer I am going to be unbalanced.

I remember watching a short video of someone interviewing Paul
Washer. The interviewer asked Paul what the dangers are facing the recent
movement of young reformed Christians. He basically said that he applauds these
young Christians for being series about truth, doctrine, and living out their
faith in the context of 2000 years of Christian history. But he went on to say
that the purpose of studying truth is to know God. It is to point us to Jesus
and show us who Jesus is. He went on to say that most of the older men that he
has talked to had regrets not that they did not study enough, but that they did
not pray enough. I am afraid that if I continue in the state that I am right
now, I will say the same thing.

We don’t have to read very much of Scripture or of godly men in
Scripture to realize that prayer is so, so important. Daniel prayed three times a day, Paul devoted
himself to prayer, Elijah hid himself away to pray, and of course Jesus prayed
many times in Scripture.

Not only do we have the example of men in Scripture, we have
church history to look back to as well. We find the same thing, the godliest
men and women we’re people who spent much time in prayer. Martin Luther prayed
three hours a day, David Brainerd was much in the prayer closet, and Jonathan
Edwards, the great philosopher and theologian, prayed much.

All of this to say, am I missing it? Am I missing one of the most important
if not the most important means of grace?